Kenton Brothers Implements NetSuite – 5 Critical Steps to Consider

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By Neal Bellamy, IT Director at Kenton Brothers

Here at Kenton Brothers, we’re investing in our systems to help support our customers, both internal and external, in a way that can make us faster to respond, with better information and with more organization than we’ve ever have had before. We’ve done this before, at least four times that I know of… the latest in 2015. At that time, we decided we could no longer have multiple areas for information and that all data had to live in one database. While that system worked from 2015 until now, we’re outgrowing its capabilities. Two years ago we set out on a quest to find out what the next system would look like.

ERP stands for Enterprise Resource Planning

Kenton Brothers - Netsuite ERP FeaturesERP is applicable to almost any kind of business from manufacturing to service companies to franchises. Furthermore, there are hundreds of software packages that claim to be an ERP. In some sense, they are. But their capabilities can be vastly different.

There are software packages that you can buy off the shelf and implement yourself for $40/month. And there is software that you can implement for several thousand dollars per year.

2nd Step – Evaluating Software

This brings us to our second step (Yes, I skipped the first step, hold please…) We evaluated lots of software packages, some were industry specific to physical security, some were generic and could be modified, some were specific to industries that were related to ours. That’s when we learned what the first step should have been.

1st Step – Know Your Business

Gina says, “Without a destination, any road will get you there.” In this case, if you don’t know what you want, any ERP will fit. Which is where we got stuck the first time around. There were lots of options for an ERP that might work. We really hadn’t thought about the areas that were going well, the areas that could be improved, and the areas that needed vast improvement.

We really had to step back and look at the business and decide what was most important to us. And we should have gone through this process before we started looking at software… but lessons learned. I wish that we had found some silver bullet software for our business, but what we found is some are better than others in different areas. Some give and take is required.

KB breaks the traditional mold. Sure, we’re a service company. We come out and fix things if they need to be fixed. We’re also an installation company. When something is old and needs to be replaced, or you have a new need, we do that too. But, if you just want the parts and can install it yourself, we do that as well. Finally, if you’re not sure what you need and just want experts to lead you through the entire process, that’s our bread and butter.

I’ll spare you all the details, but this ERP project was not going to be easy.

KB NetSuite Project TimelineWe talked about our business and documented what was going to be required to be successful. At the end of the day, we determined that we needed something to be flexible and “future proof”.

Once we determined what success would look like, it quickly narrowed the field of possibilities. We learned that industry specific was not going to work for us. There is no industry specific software that exists for KB.

We looked at two competing software platforms that were flexible, future proof and could be customized to KB. That’s when we realized we were going to need an expert.

3rd Step – Find an expert that you can trust.

Meridian Business worked with us early on. They talked with us about the capabilities of NetSuite, long before we decided that NetSuite was a good option. They engaged with us to learn about our business and researched solutions for our needs. Even though we looked at other solutions, we ultimately came back to Meridian Business because they know our business better than anyone else. They dedicated a lot of time and energy understanding our needs and desires.

We started our implementation with Meridian Business in November of 2020. We will go live on January 3rd, 2022. That’s more than a year of meetings, planning, and discussion. It seemed like a long time at first, but now we are 70% of the way complete it seems right on. If we could all stop business tomorrow, pluck the most knowledgeable, most valued people out of the business and sit down for 3-4 months straight, sure we could accomplish the same goal. But business can’t stop. There are customers to serve and people that need paychecks, so we must, as David says, “Paint the train while it’s moving.”

4th Step – Take the time for extensive testing.

KB NetSuite TestingOver the last 9 months, I’ve been able to engage the right people in the business to help make the right decisions. We’re not making snap decisions that are obsolete before we go live. It’s important to actively engage business leaders so they’re not overwhelmed by the coming changes.

Something I thought was odd, was the amount of time dedicated to testing. Surely if everyone knew the requirements (Step 1), testing should not take long. Boy, I was wrong.

There are two issues with requirements:

1. They are never really expressed with exact detail.
2. They are never really understood with exact detail.

Testing takes care of both issues. We have experts working through examples of our typical scenarios to determine where something isn’t right. What we’re finding is that we didn’t understand our own requirements as well as we thought we did. The result? Neither did any of the partners.

Our integration involves five different companies trying to merge their own software and ideas into our final solution. This is no small feat. Testing will take us more than two months. If I could only give you one word of advice, it would be Plan for Testing. (And don’t cheat the timeline.)

5th Step – User Training

Testing should be over soon and we’ll start user testing and training. I am sure we will find additional tweaks that we need to make to the system, but I am confident that the early groundwork we did asking lots of questions and testing our workflows will minimize the amount of work we will have to do in this step. (Famous last words, right?)

With all of the preparation, testing, and training, I know KB will be ready to provide better support to all of our customers and have a platform to lead us into the next stage of our growth. If you’re a customer or partner of Kenton Brothers, I would love to get your feedback as you begin interacting with us through our NetSuite software in January 2022. At KB, we always strive for continuous improvement which doesn’t happen without feedback. So thank you in advance… and here’s to a new and improved KB!

If you have any additional questions about our NetSuite implementation, leave a comment or give us a call!

Glazer’s Beer & Beverage Invests in Protecting Their People, Property and Possessions

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We recently completed our fifth commercial security system installation for Glazer’s Beer & Beverage, this time in Waco, Texas.

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Developers and Homeowners get ‘visual’ peace of mind.

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By Gina Stuelke, CEO of Kenton Brothers

HOA Camera ProjectWould you like to monitor cars and people entering your subdivision? We recently installed a slick access control system to help a local developer and homeowners see vehicle activity at their entry.

Kenton Brothers Systems for Security provided a smart, cloud based video surveillance system that provides visibility of cameras with a single easy to use platform, with secure access to cameras from any location and across all types of devices.

It was important to the developer that the aesthetics of the solution be as clean and simple as possible, so as to not detract from the beauty of the entrance. Many times, security and aesthetics don’t mix. However, in this case, we created a streamlined, compact system consisting of one pole to mount the cameras in their appropriate position. This limited the amount of equipment in the landscaped entrance.

The cameras log and record object specific activities and can alert users of unusual motion in a frame. This system shares live links and footage without having to open ports or download software. With smart features that gives you everything you need to easily manage and monitor footage. Simple! And Smart!

Do you need a commercial video surveillance solution? Give us a call!

Golden Valley Memorial Healthcare Swaps the Hassle of Keys and Manual Access Changes for Unified Access Management

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Golden Valley Memorial Healthcare LogoGolden Valley Memorial Healthcare (GVMH) is a leading rural healthcare organization dedicated to providing compassionate, friendly, quality care for patients close to home.

GVMH gives its rural communities convenient access to highly trained medical specialists who provide a full range of services, including specialized areas such as cardiology, oncology, ophthalmology and more. GVMH also has a high-tech 56-bed hospital, a 24/7 emergency department, four multi-specialty physician clinics, an outpatient clinic and a cancer center.

Focused on serving rural populations, GVMH operates a main campus in Clinton, Missouri. They also operate nine satellite healthcare facilities located in Windsor, Warsaw and Osceola, Missouri.

On any given day, they are processing thousands of employees and patients moving throughout their campuses and inside their facilities.

The Problem: A Cumbersome, Offline System

Though located in rural communities, GVMH experiences the same challenges as larger healthcare campuses in urban areas. On any given day, thousands of personnel are moving through their facility requiring multiple tiers of access. Patients must be kept safe and visitor tracking must be managed at all times. Finally, critical equipment and pharmaceuticals require highly regulated protocols.

Prior to 2019, GVMH’s access control operated offline, so whenever a key or credential was lost or needed to be changed to prevent unauthorized access, it had to be done onsite. Performing access changes this way took time and resources. Considering the number of times an access point has to be changed in any given month, it became clear they could reallocate their investment to a more streamlined and more secure solution.

The Solution: Network Security to Manage Multiple Locations

Kenton Brothers deployed an access control system in GVMH’s main building in Clinton and in all satellite clinics to standardize all access points. The access control system is IP-based, providing a unified management and administration experience through mobile apps and flexible architecture. Should GVMH expand, its access control solution expands with it.

Now, instead of rekeying or changing credential access at the location site, GVMH’s administrators can remotely cancel a credential/badge at any building from one location.

Unified access control is phase one of GVMH’s long-term plan. Phase two will tackle the organization’s intrusion system. Like access control, GVMH’s intrusion alert system will be consistent across all locations and on one platform to consolidate security vendors and result in measurable resource and cost savings.

To learn more about access control systems for your organization, please give us a call.

National Account with 600 Sites in 15 Weeks? Check.

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By Ryan Kaullen, Field Services Manager at Kenton Brothers

Kenton Brothers Systems for Security, in its 124th year of existence, has seen projects of every size across most industries. We really thrive taking on the unusual, the time sensitive, and challenging projects across regions/states. This is a common situation when we’re working with some of our national accounts.

One such project that covered all of these aspects was a recent install at over 600 sites for a major utility company in the Midwest.

The scope of the project was to install locking hardware and specialty electronic hardware (eCylinders/ePadlocks) across the customer’s list of sites. This was a complex project involving lots of variables. These included timeframe, hardware needed, and the geographical locations of these sites. A lot of planning went into this project to evaluate requirements and determine the best course of action with limited information.

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Timeframe

Medeco | Assa AbloyThe timeline for this project was a total of 15 weeks. This meant we would be doing installations at roughly 43 sites per week. One of the requirements of this project was to meet a federally mandated deadline. This required us to plan the best routes possible to ensure our technicians were as efficient as possible.

We accomplished this using route planning software based on addresses and GPS coordinates. This was a crucial step to ensuring we would hit our deadlines.

The result? Kenton Brothers completed this project over a week early.

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Material

The tricky part about material for this project is that we couldn’t easily plan ahead for the amount of hardware that would be needed at each location.

Before the start of the project, we visited 7 sites and created hardware lists to cover the different scenarios we found. The goal was to make sure our technicians didn’t have to make return trips for materials.

We were also installing security cylinders known as eCylinders or ePadlocks. They provide access just like an access control system. If you have the correct key, you’re allowed access. If you don’t, the cylinder or padlock stays locked. This is for auditing capabilities of who went into the site and at what time. This product and solution met the industry specified regulatory requirements for remote sites.

Locations

Project LocationsThe locations ranged from being in major cities to farmer’s cow pastures.

We provided our technicians aerial views of all of the sites. This helped them verify they were at the right place and what to expect getting into the area. This played a vital role in our completion date. We were able to plan routes based on those views and we could see the access points.

This complex project was a fast-paced, time sensitive, and complex project that required an attention to detail. Every site required work detail reports with specific information, specific billing was required to meet our customer’s needs, and technicians with outstanding craftsmanship were needed to accomplish the project goals.

We are proud that we were able to provide one of our national accounts customers this commercial security solution. And it was a big win to deliver a week ahead of schedule. Do you have large commercial security projects that require attention to detail, multiple sites, and a team who can get the work done? If so, give Kenton Brothers a call. We’ll make your life easier!